The present invention relates to a wire harness mounting method, a wire harness mounting portion structure, a wire harness mounting type vehicle component, a wire harness mounting type vehicle component module, and a method of assembling and inspecting a wire harness.
Nowadays, to achieve an improvement in production efficiency, in quality, etc. for wire harnesses, a sub division production system is adopted, in which a wire harness to be produced is divided into a number of sub wire harnesses. In this system, production is performed for each of the sub wire harnesses, obtained through division, in a sub wire harness production process. The sub wire harnesses produced are assembled in a harness assembly process to finally complete a wire harness.
Recently, an automatic sub wire harness producing machine is often used in the sub wire harness production process. In this automatic sub wire harness producing machine, the manufacturing steps for each circuit of each sub wire harness, including wire cutting, insulation coating removal at wire terminals, terminal crimping, and connector insertion, are automatically performed to automatically manufacture each sub wire harness.
In this automatic sub wire harness producing machine, there are usually limitations regarding the kind of connector, terminal, and wire to be used therewith, depending upon the scale of the equipment. Thus, the number of circuits of a single sub wire harness that can be produced by the automatic producing machine is restricted.
Further, when the sub wire harness is large, the operational efficiency of the harness assembly process, in which sub wire harnesses are assembled to complete one wire harness, deteriorates. In view of this, it is regarded, at present, as desirable for the number of circuits in each sub wire harness to be approximately twenty to thirty at the maximum.
Usually, in the harness assembly process for assembling each sub wire harness, a harness assembly wiring table is used. On this harness assembly wiring table, wiring jigs for performing wiring on a sub wire harness, such as a connector temporary fixing jig and a branching portion temporary fixing jig, and exterior component mounting jigs for mounting, after wiring and assembly of each sub wire harness, exterior components, such as a wire tying tape, a wire harness fastening clip, and a wire protecting tube, are arranged in accordance with the size and configuration of the wire harness to be completed. After performing wiring on each sub wire harness in conformity with the above-mentioned wiring jigs and assembling the sub wire harness, the exterior components are mounted in conformity with the exterior component mounting jigs, whereby a single wire harness is finally completed.
When circuits of different sub wire harnesses are to be connected by using a press contact connector, the press contact connector is retained on the harness assembly wiring table, and when or after the sub wire harnesses are combined together, the wires of the circuits in the sub wire harnesses to be connected are respectively set on the press contact connector, and press contact connection is effected by a press contact fitting machine provided on the harness assembly wiring table side.
When circuits of different sub wire harnesses are to be connected by welding, the sub wire harnesses are combined together, and then the crimp terminals of the circuits of the sub wire harnesses to be connected and wire conductor terminal portions not inserted into a connector are put together, and the conductor terminals are collectively connected by welding by means of a welder provided on the harness assembly wiring table side.
The wire harness thus completed is usually mounted to a vehicle or to a vehicle-mounted component in an automotive assembly line.
Recently, however, a so-called module production system is under consideration, according to which instrument panel components are previously assembled in an instrument panel assembly line, which is separate from the vehicle assembly line, and instrument panel modules completed are collectively mounted to a vehicle in the vehicle assembly line. The instrument panel components include control units such as an air conditioning unit and an audio unit, an indicating device such as a meter, an operating panel such as a center cluster panel, various switches and sensors, structures such as a reinforcing bar and an instrument panel main body, and a wire harness.
As is also being considered, when the above-mentioned module production system is adopted, the wire harness production process is executed, for example, beside the instrument panel assembly sub line, and the wire harness produced is supplied directly to the instrument panel assembly sub line and mounted to an instrument panel module, thereby reducing wire harness distribution, inventories, etc. and achieving an improvement in the efficiency in vehicle production.
As a result of the diversification in customer needs, as many as several hundreds kinds of wire harnesses are required depending on the presence/absence of various types of equipment and combinations of variations.
To reduce the number of kinds of wire harnesses, a single wire harness product number is assigned to a plurality of relatively similar vehicle specifications. Despite this measure, however, the wire harness product number can be as large as approximately one hundred.